That Thrilling Thing Called The Fourth Draft

Oh, boy. The fourth draft.

I'm getting ready to "fix up" my manuscript.

Everything I've done to this point has been a lot of writing--creating the first draft, then rewriting ... and rewriting again ... So it's strange now to not be rewriting everything.

It's thrilling. And baffling.

Not to mention terrifying.

"Look at the big things," people say. "Look at the big picture, and work your way down to the smaller details."

But I'd rather be debating whether or not I should use "frozen" versus "icy" than perfecting a character arc. Words are exciting. Flawed character arcs are daunting.

Fleshing out that minor character is tedious. Sharpening a description is invigorating.

But it will be okay. I'll get to the details later. I just need to tackle the big stuff. And that's fine. I know it will be just as satisfying to see the lifelike character as it will to read a flowing description. Maybe even more satisfying.

I am not rebuilding. I am repairing. 

I am not destroying. I am developing.

I am not eradicating. I am enriching.

I am not ruining. I am refining.